Within the context of laparoscopic surgical procedures it is known for the surgeon to operably place instruments into the abdominal cavity and operate those instruments with limited visualisation. The instruments are presented into the cavity through ports and are then manipulated by the surgeon through the ports. Such surgical procedures use delivery systems both during and after the actual laparoscopic surgical event. During the surgical event a delivery system may be used to delivery an anchor to effect an anchoring of one or more surgical instruments relative to the surgical site. After the surgical event there is a need to effect a closure of the surgical wound and a delivery systems may be usefully employed to effect a delivery of suture to the site.
In both scenarios an instrument having a sharpened tip is used to penetrate the abdominal wall and provide access within the abdominal cavity. Use of the sharpened tip advantageously allows the surgeon to use the instrument itself to concurrently cut the necessary tissue to facilitate its passage through the abdominal wall. Unfortunately once inside the abdominal cavity the presence of the sharpened tip can cause difficulties as it can accidentally nick or cut tissue or organs. This is particularly the case in laparoscopic surgery where the surgeon has limited visualisation of the end of the instrument once it is within the abdominal cavity.
These and other problems are also found in non-laparoscopic surgical techniques.